Out of sheer perversedness, I've included a review of the parallelGoS ep after the commentary on the Botp ep. Read or don't, but please go easy on the tomatoes and shurikens. :-)Now I've got to go dig out some of my stock of chocolate…thankgoodness for after-Valentine's Day sales.

And I still think Zark looks like a bug in that get up.

BotP

What's with Zark's technobabble? Did chopping out so much of G-2's screen time leave that much needing to be filled up?

Love Rover's reaction to the idea of work. And I thought the dog had no redeeming qualities…..

Zark won't radio Chief Anderson and tell him of the equipment's screw-ups because it's an admission of weakness!?! (What happened to being ever vigilant!?! By definition, that mean doing your best, and making sure your equipment is in peak condition!)

Why does Jason get such a corny line? "Can of sardines about to be opened"? Sheesh!

The rest of the team don't seem to be aware of the attempt on the Chief's life until he and Jason arrive.

Jason's complaining about a poss. Spectran assassin and Mark and Princess are teasing him with the implication that is was nightmare? Please tell me they were just being silly.

An assassination attempt is the Chief's idea of a "slight interruption"!?! Ooohhhkkaayyyyy……

Jason's saying to listen to Zark?

WHAT is with the LO's VOICE?

Still don't understand why a monorail, however international, makes for a tempting Spectran target. No matter how heavily traveled, or where it reaches, it's only a reasonable target if some one important is on it. Chief Anderson on the train makes more sense as a target.

So they chopped the whole scene with the race track and Lani's car exploding and G-2 saving her and just have them in the car together and him dropping her off. Sigh. Like I said, some of G-2's best scenes….

Why'd Jason sound so sulky that G-Force left without him? Is that just the voice actor?

To be honest, the engine of that train looks a bit like one of Zoltar's mecha.

So the "LaTrosse" name from Ennien's BotP Arc is canon. I was wondering.

So Zark gets a call from Jason, who's upset because G-Force took off without him. And Zark's next line is, "Now he knows how I feel." WHAT?!?!

Love to see G-3 in command.

Chief just asked Mala to dinner!?! Is he suspicious…or interested? I've paused the disc, and I swear, that's a "you gotta be kidding" look on Mark's face.

Mala apparently doesn't like guys.

Zark had all of the passengers "removed at the last stop" because "there's something suspicious about that PR woman." A) I thought this was an express. B) Wouldn't that make the Spectrans suspicious? 3) Sandy Frank had to deal with the American censors on this or I'll eat my hat. (The red, not the black.) :-P

Looks like the original inkers screwed up here. Only Keyop's hand is red; the rest his arm, from wrist to shoulder, is yellow.

The cut images make the film kind of jumpy from time to time.

So Mala's out trying to kick Mark off the train (literally) but we here the Chief's voice telling Mala that she won't get away with this. I'm confused…

Highly effective job on the bridge. Took it out, severed the locomotive and first car, and destroyed the rest of the train.

How does an international globe-girdling monorail (ONE global rail line) decrease the Earth's vulnerability to invasion and conquest?

LOL. Chief Anderson does sarcasm so well.

Now some of G-1's bad guy flattening takes get clipped…

G-3 does get to shine in this ep. Now she's taking out three of the Galaxy Girl rocket vehicles.

Okay. Definite clip there. Jump in both visual and music. Ahhh….I think that's where the GG ships blow themselves up to take out the track (not that they're going to show that to poor innocent impressionable minds. Oh no.) Which leaves no clear idea of just how the bridge blew up.

Mala, Zoltar, Galactor, any version of the PDOS comes across as definitely wacko.

The Phoenix dives in the water after the train and Chief…

…and comes up with Chief, Eagle, and Owl.

I like what Princess says: "You can always count on Tiny to be there when you need him." Sometimes I don't think any of the Owls get enough credit.

And I don't care if it's BotP or GoS: WHY are they standing around the Phoenix in their CIVILIAN clothes!?! All that's needed is for the bad guys to show up with a camera!

Zark: "No one was injured on the attack on the train. Chief Anderson and every G-Force member is well and safe." Gag.

Aaaaggghhhhh! Lousy Mark and Princess animation! If a real person stood in the same posture as Mark, they'd strain their back. And do those two always flirt that much in Center Neptune?

*******

GoS

Devil Stars/Monorail

I could definitely live without the backbeat.

Apparently, on GoS Brighthead or Dirk radioed in what had happened before they actually got to where the rest of the team was. The Dr. tells the other four that he's "just fine, thanks to Dirk's quick thinking and driving ability." Of course, Dirk complains that if he'd had his G-2 unit, he could have got her. Wouldn't surprise me if Jason'd been thinking the same thing.

So Ace says that the team has to guard the Dr. around the clock. Aggie adds that someone's got to be with him all the time. Now, all the Dr.'s doing is sitting down, but he can't be too crazy about the idea. Every parent loves their kids, but every parent also needs a break from time to time!

Dirk wants to attack Galactor. (Never mind they don't know where the base is, where the ship is, what the strength is…etc., etc., etc.) Jason and Dirk are equally aggressive in this case; Dirk just shows it more in his voice.

Dirk's saying, "If the rest of you want to sit around like rabbits, go ahead, but without me." This is corny, and as near as I can figure, has to do with rabbits' legendary tendency to be scared by the slightest thing, since rabbits tend to run, not sit, when scared.

So Lani is "Star One" on this show. At least she has guts; she's willing to offer to go back, knowing darn well that if she fails again, she's dead.

Brighthead, not the train, is the target. That makes a lot more sense. It does seem that he was not expecting an attack on the train, but before or after the journey.

A red tide attacking the undersea gardens? The timing is too convienent. Either the red tide is a fake or the call was a fake. (Show never is very clear on which.)

So, the Dr.'s riding on the train because he's meeting a marine biologist on the trip. In a weird way, this makes sense.If the biologist in question hasn't the security clearance to go aboard the Phoenix, and the Dr. wants to compare notes and discuss strategies before the get to "Zone D" where the undersea farms are, then not going in the Phoenix sort of makes sense.

The racetrack/exploding car scene that was cut from BotP….

Lani says she can't see Jason again. Star One makes a date for the racetrack. Spectra and Galactor definitely have some major differences.

Now, some fanfics/writeups of this have the girl G-2 rescued getting slapped by the female PDOS. But apparently that scenes been cut from both translations.

Apparently, Mark, thru Zark, left Jason with orders to hold down the fort. Ace, on the other hand, stuck a feather shuriken in the map to let Dirk know where to go and more or less left it up to him whether he would come or not. Interesting view on G-1/G-2 dynamics.

"Thompkins" is very much in character, asking if the Dr.'s young companion has clearance. And saying she "feels much safer with him here." Ooh boy.

I wonder if they thought the backbeat on this scene would increase tension. (Headaches, maybe.)

Okay, Psycho Lady is saying that a Star Agent failed to assassinate Dirk Daring's family with the exact same flower bomb that Star One used during the attack on the Dr. Screeching halt. Using the same design after more than 10 years? No wonder Galactor keeps getting its tail kicked! Never mind that it's established in another ep. that Dirk's parents as dead as Joe Asakura's after that assassin was done.

Now why doesn't Psycho Lady just shoot G-1? She has to get "clever". They can't be trying to make it look like accident, what with blowing up trains and bridges and all.

Yep, same inking screw up on G-4's sleeve.

No name for Crazy Lady. She identifies herself as a loyal follower of Galactor. (note: She gave the first name Veronica in the Squid mech ep. In fanfic, I would guess "Veronica Thompkins" would be as good a name as any.)

No matter what version, the look on her face when seeing G-1 instead of the Dr. is funny.

And here's the part where the three Star rocket ships blow themselves and the bridge up. Checking both disc and tape, it's easy to see where it was clipped. But G-3 assuming that the Star ladies are cyborgs because they were willing to blow themselves up with their ships? Isn't that just a little hasty? (I can't say I ever bought the line that all of Galactor's special forces were heartless because they were cyborgs, esp. since the general definition of cyborg I read in most sci-fi is a character that is a combination of flesh and blood and sythetics. Androids are supposed to be the ones that are 100% artificial. Feel free to dispute me.) ; )

Train in the river…that burning oil looks as dangerous as the possibility of drowning.

Now the good stuff: Last devil star ship headed right toward G-2 in full combat mode. Man, he looks relaxed -til he moves.

Throws the feather, pins the rose to her, nice dramatic pose on his part…and we see that Star One is the girl he saved. And she blows up. (memories of human friendship, she says) Thing is, she had time to try and save herself, but considering Galactor's attitude towards failure...

Aggie's worried about Dirk. Ace speechifying: "Sometimes the best thing way to help your friends is let them work things out for themselves." Then he goes on to say that Dirk will talk to them when he's ready, and that G-force is his family now. (Sweet sentiments, but the way he puts it…Kansas, get ready for another one!)

This is the part wasn't in BotP, and it's where I just want kill Dr. Brighthead. B. narrator says that the girl that Dirk saved on the racetrack was one of the Devil Stars, the one he destroyed in fact and that Dirk was supposed to meet her at the rally track. I'm thinking narrator/exposition. And then this line: "I never told him." (That Brighthead, in the show, knew/had this info, apparently.) And I'm like WHAT? `cause the way it comes across is really cold.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, including but not limited to Sandy Frank Film Syndication Inc., Saban Entertainment, Hearst Entertainment, Turner Program Services and/or Tatsunoko Production Co., LTD. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.